


When You Close Your Eyes

by OrbitBoi



Series: The Parallel Universes [2]
Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: + a true ending, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, How Do I Tag, alternate endings, ambitious for dis babie, anyways enjoy, inspired and loosely based on Pompeii (Bastille), there is something called Emo Syndrome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:48:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23961829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrbitBoi/pseuds/OrbitBoi
Summary: Hyejoo struggles for a living while endlessly pursuing a reason to live, and along the lines, she relived her past as the worst drew nearer...
Relationships: Choi Yerim | Choerry/Son Hyejoo | Olivia Hye, Jeon Heejin/Kim Hyunjin, Jo Haseul/Viian Wong | ViVi, Kim Jiwoo | Chuu/Son Hyejoo | Olivia Hye, Park Chaewon | Go Won/Son Hyejoo | Olivia Hye
Series: The Parallel Universes [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1682263
Kudos: 59





	1. The story begins

A quick excerpt from the Informal Report on the Emo Syndrome:

**Name** : Emotionless Syndrome (Emo Syndrome for short).

**Type** : Mental illness.

**Quick description** : A complicated mental health issue. It simply works as the follows: the only physical symptoms on the subject are that the blackened pupil expands and takes over the entire eye, and then all emotions completely vanishes, and the subject can no longer feel anymore of the emotions experienced in the past, just the memory remains. A very strange point indeed, but further studies concluded that this syndrome only affects the emotions and leaves the other factors alone. In other words to sum this up, there is no such thing as 'killing machine' without feelings and emotions. Their brains did not disappear or completely lost control, so no thank you on that please.

**Footnote** : I neither care about how any of you are so desperate for a 'killing machine', nor care to listen to your constant cries about how it could affect your life. The only way to get back your emotions is to find your significant other, and that's it. For the safety of the research team, I'll have all the names removed from this report, and I'm mentally sure that these parts are being quoted for research purposes now. - Dr.[DATA REMOVED].

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was an afternoon with a sky clear of clouds, the winds casually blowing through, the sun slowly diving down the horizon. City lights begin to light up, street lights glow over the roads, colored window panes lit up for the night, and the traffic became thinner, with the illuminating headlights continues to travel back and forth, back and forth, back and forth,...

Well, Hyejoo could just care less about it, anyways.

She never found the meaning to describe things in a manner so highly or something of the sort. If you name her the realist, then she might always say 'that's me', If you tell her to be a writer, she would ask you whether you have a death wish. This maybe irrelevant talk, but that's what happened to her during high school, when her peers made fun of how dry her writing is, and her English teacher would constantly remind her every class about how important it is to write 'decently' in his own opinion, to which she had to endure painfully. But that doesn't matter anymore. She should be acknowledging the fact that schools are already 12 years behind her now.

Standing on top of the deserted building, a.k.a her new-and-still-temporary-again home, and directing her gaze towards North, in the direction of the flashy Life city, promising of a better life from its looks, she can't help but feel the bitter sensation rising up alongside the anger deep inside. The city is only kind to those who had money. To her, she still kept a list of names they call her before she left for good: the runaway kid, the homeless, the emo bitch, the worthless child,... Seriously, the small town down South feels way more like home, regardless of what anyone could bother telling her. She ain't givin' it a middle finger either. Same thing for cops. Steering clear of them is probably the wisest thing you should do as anyone, because they aren't better: constantly busting in and out of the houses, weeding out the so called 'drug dealers', sending them straight to jail, and that's it. Those bastards make a living on people like her, and you know they have no choice.

Thus, by making this far in her life, it's fair to say she's a decent survivor. Good enough, but things would get ugly soon...

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hyejoo! Wake up! We're late for school! If you're gonna be late for school, I'm dragging your ass to school if that's the last thing I have to do!", shouted a purple-haired girl barging into the dark room, swinging the curtains open, bringing sunlight into the room, burning the eyes of the other girl now burying herself deeper under the blankets.

"Yerim, we know the drill, I don't wanna go to school", Hyejoo mumbled weakly, trying to fall back to sleep from the excessive brightness inside her room.

In a very fluid motion, clearly being experienced from doing it every morning, the mobile sunshine tore the blanket apart from the sleepy head and swiftly adjusted herself nicely on top of Hyejoo, gaining complete control over the person scowling at her.

"Geez, get off me! People have their own privacy, you know!"

"Nuh-uh, unless you're getting up, I'm staying on you here", said Yerim in a teasing manner, grinning at the mess on the bed.

"How am I supposed to get up if you're putting your heavy ass on me? I said get off!"

"Hey! That's a rude way to say it! But I'll take that as a yes. Now get ready for school, we're already behind the schedule!", screeched Yerim as she continuously dragging her by the arm off the bed.

Knowing the girl who took pride about her stubbornness in getting what she wants effectively every time, the black-haired girl finally admitted defeat, and started putting on her clothes while doing her best to shoo the other overly positive girl out of room.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She jolted awake on the mattress, sweat dripping down her hair and soaked her shirt completely. She had forgot how hot the weather was, and she made a mental note on wasting another penny in the laundry store again. But speaking the truth, (1) she didn't have that much clothes, (2) she had never experienced something so realistic like her old memories for a good 12 years ago, and the sweating is abnormal when brought to consideration, seeing as she couldn't have sweat that hard on the hottest night last May, staying awake for a straight 5 hours long, wiping herself with a towel and downing a few cans of soda on top of the building a.k.a her home, and (3), the discomfort inside her, although not very clear yet, a sickening sensation is growing stronger everyday, giving her a hard time recently, and sweating profusely is just one symptom among others. She decided to sort them all out in the morning, and fell back down the mattress again, desperate for some sleep to forget all of this.

Heck, now the old memories are returning to haunt her again. _Is this another symptom as well? Damn, life just hates me_ , she thought to herself, imagining how the annoying purple-haired girl of the past would be a blessing to her right now. For as long as she could remember, the out-going personality and the genuine smile on her face had never changed throughout their childhood together, knowing that she only had Yerim for a friend while the other girl has all the children in the neighborhood to keep herself busy all the time. For some sort of reason, the sunshine friend of hers tried her best to include her into the playgrounds, and was met with poor results. And up until this day, she regretted heavily on agreeing to join the circle of Yerim's friends, leaving a scar on her that will never heal...

Unable to snap back to reality, she fell back into the dream world, as _gray_ _clouds slowly roll over the hills_...

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The journey to the school wasn't that long, with Yerim constantly chatting and greeting people on her way, slowing her down every time without fail. There's that one time when Hyejoo intentionally left her behind when the sweetie offered help for stray child and walked ahead, half annoyed and half expecting a good laugh for herself. And sure enough, she caught up later with a pouting expression, clearly sulking from being left behind. All in all, it's fun to tease her once in a while, and being honest, it's quite hard to resist doing it.

Halfway through the route, a blonde girl would meet up with them and join in the conversation. Her name's Chaewon. To describe her accurately... I guess 'doll upperclassman' would fit, but it seems like I'm bad at names - let's not get distracted now. Thanks to her doll-like charms, she's well known all around the school. Not too talkative, usually shy around new people, a soft, tiny and crunchy voice, she automatically became the little sister figure that everyone felt that it's their duty to protect her. Yerim pulled her into this group of friends by some unknown tactics that Hyejoo genuinely doesn't want to acknowledge. But since then, she opened up to be more sociable, and for some reason, she'd blush lightly when the emo girl looked at her, which was always disregarded by the said girl, assuming the blonde is still a bit shy to fully open up to her.

The journey takes exactly 28 minutes considering she walked steadily without stopping or being distracted from her walking. Greeting them every morning without fail were the fans of the girls (ah yes, I haven't mention this: each girl in this group except wolf babie has a fan club, which sounds extremely crazy, eh?), boys and girls screaming out their love for their so-called 'idols' while glaring angrily at the 'odd person out' in there, despite the reassurances from Yerim. Well, she just didn't have a choice, in her defense. It's really annoying.

Making her way towards her classroom before splitting up from the group, she should expect Sooyoung, or Yves (the fuckgirl) flirting with a classmate (the brackets are Hyejoo's), and seeing her approaching, she ends the conversation and attempt to poke fun at her. Ignorance is her response, too tired to fight back from the endless bully streak. That meant telling her classmates to screw up her studies, smack talk behind her back, spread rumors around... and her life was too miserable to be real. _Seriously_ , thought Hyejoo, _how did they find that bitchin' hag that forever poppin' her bones attractive?_ Her best guess is life sucks, end of story.

Well, the best is just yet to come soon...

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**_Midnight. It's midnight._ **

The soaked-wet girl dried herself with a towel, tossed it to the side, and glanced out of the large window. Those words bounced around inside her head.

The lights in Life city has yet to extinguish. But the neighborhood downstairs seems to be pleasantly quiet for her. She made her decision.

_I'm leaving. The other issues will be dealt with in the morning._

Putting on the tattered leather jacket, and a last glance at the mattress on which she spent nearly 2 years laying her back on it, she moved to the staircase, and started her journey downwards.

** She ain't gonna use it anymore after this particular night. **

As she descents, she made sure to switch off the lights on every floor. It's thankful that the building has electricity, or things could have been more difficult for her.

** She ain't gonna use these lights anymore after this particular night. **

Arriving at the ground floor, she cranked open the heavy iron door, and exited the building, not forgetting to re-secure the lock inside, and left.

**_And after this particular night, the walls will tumble down on the town that she loved, and she's not returning home anymore._ **


	2. Reaching somewhere in the middle

Another quick excerpt from the Informal E. S. Papers (don't mind the names, it still refers to one thing), this time the diary of the research team's Leader:

**Diary entry #183** : So yeah, I've been stuck in this secret laboratory for like, what was it, 4 months or more? No idea. The thing about writing informal reports is that the research we are doing could either be too dangerous for anyone working in close proximity or impossible to have a permanent solution against the problem, of which the category falls into the latter. It's very complicated if I'm honest, since we were never ready for any of these. Due to humanitarian issues, our research are extremely limited in seeing if the brain is altered or not, or if the brainwash method is the only way to end this (and I hope not), and so on. But as the syndrome spreaded wider, we've got a perfect amount of data to give anyone who's interested in this research a better view of E. S., not the garbled version of the mass media, and having an electronic installed inside our lab to be up to date with the newest stuff, I'd say those are rubbish, and open, public labs as well as private labs has that difficulty of getting any profit from this crisis due to a lot of reasons that I'm too lazy to write it down, since it's not my job to do that. As the Leader of the research team (yes that's my position), I can write whatever I want, along close consultation of the second-in-charge in this operation and 3 hand-selected scientists that make up a mini council for the research team, to which anyone irrelevant to this will not even acknowledge the existence of such a thing. But enough of that now. From the enormous amount of research previously said, we found out that E. S. has 4 stages of behavior that directly or indirectly indicates someone with E. S.:

  1. Immediate or gradual disinterest in activities, varies between a lot of people, backgrounds and other factors that influence the severity of this syndrome from the early phase.
  2. "Something similar to depression" is the best way to put it (no offenses), and this stage is very difficult to recognize if not detected early. However, up until this stage, anti-depressants still work on slowing down the negative effects, though it's extremely not advisable to rely on pills. Spare the supplies, please.
  3. Now comes the hardest part to control and easiest part to detect: blackened pupils expand and cover the eyes entirely. It's actually creepy witnessing it first-hand from a stage 3 patient, but for science and also for the job, we had to.
  4. Emotionally dead, and extreme acts such as suicide, killing intents,... are **not** side effects from E. S., so yeah, shut up mass media and conspiracy theorists, you ain't making me listening.



Just wanna repeat it one last time: this is **n** **ot** **brainwash** ; this is **not the end of the world** (I hope so); your brain is **not dead or anything similar** ; this is **not an infectious disease** ; and I'm done with the press constantly asking stupid-ass questions about us. I've already sent requests to the higher-ups for a special, never-before-happened council for purposes not suitable to disclose here (or more like I'm tired with censoring). It will certainly help for the future, and it's up for you guys to figure out what to do with it. And for the record, the inspiration came from our mini council and - I'll admit - I've read too much SCP reports and stories and the idea about something relevant to the 05 Council won't leave me alone. But in the end, I wish I could write longer, but something happened in the testing grounds. I gotta go. - Dr.[DATA REMOVED]

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If anyone's still awake at midnight, Hyejoo doubts they would actually see her down on the streets. Her bicycle, being fully repaired and had proper maintenance from her, couldn't make much noise, even if she's quietly going around town to clear her mind.

But something got stuck in her mind, and until ending up in this town, there's this piece of memory that she hadn't forgotten, and will never be removed for any time soon.

As the old memories starts pouring back, she decided to head for the small convenience store, and grab herself a beverage from Rosalyn, the owner of the store. Since she worked part-time there for a good while, and occasionally helped the old lady out whenever she needed the help, she could just head there and take a break anytime and Rosie wouldn't mind that much. Plus, Rosie enjoyed company and usually prefers Olivia (an alias for Hyejoo, and I'm not telling you why she got the name) around enjoying a snack or drink to being alone most of the time. It felt like she's her precious little granddaughter, and the thought itself was a bit.. weird for her, but Rosie's someone she would place her trust, if the world ended up going against her, metaphorically.

With all those thoughts in mind, she parked the bike by the entrance, locking it up, entered inside, grabbing a bottle of soda, slumping down on a chair, and relaxes. Her head is spinning wildly, and she silently hopes that everything's gonna be okay.

She never knew that she ain't gonna use her bike again after this night.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remember when I told myself life sucks? From my perspective, there's irrefutable evidence for the statement.

Classes pass by boringly, with me dozing most of the time, and teachers drone on and on about their stuff, ignoring me as much as they care about that, and sometimes calling me up the board to make me suffer. It made me develop a love for the bell, my only savior in ending the sufferings, and brought me to something else way more pleasant: lunchtime.

The moment when I was set free, I would casually walk out into the corridor, moving towards the rendezvous. Yerim always get stuck back in her classroom upstairs, and same goes for Chaewon, having the fans surrounding them and asking if they're good to have lunch with, and they could actually suffocate from all that pressure, so much for being everyone's favorite. How sad.

Anyway, 2 stories down, turn left outside the entrance of block B, and under the second biggest tree is my rendezvous. A place where I wouldn't be disturbed for the entire lunchtime. Don't get me wrong, but the one time I tried eating within all the ugly stares because of sitting with the celebs of the school at their table in the cafeteria... no thank you. I enjoy my private little kingdom more, my supposed-to-be forever peaceful silence for the rest of my school days. Little did I know, a certain someone will soon change not only my personal rendezvous here, but also my entire future life...

Life definitely sucks if that person hadn't came down from the heavens to save me.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let's shift our focus to something else, shouldn't we? 2 months into a new semester brought us not only fresh faces, but also late transfers, coming back from studying abroad or simply family issues that are completely irrelevant for me to find out. I've seen quite a few interesting faces during most of the time observing them rather than focusing on my studies. Within them, only 3 stood out the most for me.

First one's Jeon Heejin, a girl who wears her heart on her sleeve - from the fact that she always smile brightly and easily gets pouty - and appears to be, I don't know, half-French? Not sure though, my first impression of the bunny girl was her walking up to me, gave her hand for me to shake, and took me by complete surprise by introducing herself, and I quote,"Je m'appelle Heejin" (My name is Heejin). She should have known better that I don't speak French, and her embarrassment from the mishap does make me chuckle often, and she became my next target to tease and poke fun at besides Yerim, and it also became my hobby to observe their reactions from time to time.

Second one's Kim Hyunjin, and, correct me if I'm wrong, is she a goddamn furry? I think yes. You ask for evidence? They're piling up on my desk as we're speaking right now, but here's a clear example of how I can 'scientifically' prove to you that she's a furry: do expect the said girl to bounce out of the classroom, leaving Heejin behind every time, sprinting down the hallway, hopping multiple stairs at once, crossing the school yard in god speed, and panting in front of the bread stall, buying herself the freshest bread possible. Later, Hyunjin would be sitting at a table, munching bread peacefully while Heejin got sulky on the opposite side. (side note: a perfect duo, I would say).

Then, for the last person, when looking back on what she’s done, she was responsible for flipping my world upside down…

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the school bell rings for the last time of the day, I had to go home. For Yerim and Chaewon, they’re stuck behind because of the student council’s extra work for everyone, as well as being the secretary and the treasurer of the student council. So I went home first. But home isn't my home. Let me tell you why.

At first, my family was just as normal as any other families, a child and her respective parents. Very peaceful, very happy. But tragedy struck.

My father left my mother for another woman. She got enraged, and long story short, he died in an 'accident', to which I know full well that she played a part in it, causing me to steer clear of her. On her part, she brought someone else back home. Imagine my step-father as someone who would love to gamble, down alcohol, cuss and steal every single penny from a child, similar to Ugliano Gabe from Percy Jackson, and you know life was hell for me. Once, I had a dollar, and I hid it under my bed sheets, and less than half a minute later, he came out of my room with that dollar, and it got him another round of gin. Devastation was never more severe for me.

Back in the chaotic days of Yerim barging in my room, she would always have to pass the animals on the couch, not forgetting to say hi to the drunk mess on the couch before running inside to wake me up as usual. The thing that shocked me most was how he didn't even bat an eye at her. Normally, he's shitty in treating woman in general, but not even trying to mess with Yerim? My brain would short-circuit, no joke. Another thing was how natural they seem to be during their brutal make out session. The door left open, and witnessing the scene made me ran away for 2 days, stayed by Yerim's for the same 2 days - Yerim was extremely joyful for the entire week after this, returned home only to see them unbothered about my absence. That, I have absolute nothing to say...

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Olivia snapped out of her trance, and darted her eyes around the store. The lights were out, and the scenery seemed disturbingly quiet.

_What the hell happened?_

She ran behind the counter, and saw Rosalyn's body on the blood puddle, a bullet lodged into her chest. The old lady was beyond saving.

A thousand thoughts ran through her head at that moment, but then glass shattered. Outside, deafening gunshots can be heard.

_I need to go. Now._

She headed straight for the door. Wrong choice.

***insert the sound of a high-grade explosion that detonates***

Olivia got blasted back into the store, with darkness filling up her consciousness...

The last thing she saw before drifting off was a large fire going off, and then silence.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(In this last portion, names have been changed for security protocols. But seriously, why do I even care? I don't get paid enough to do this crap.)

Aaron finished up his last works. It's has been a straight 7 hours of constant paperwork about anything that could pose a problem to society, primarily E.S. His colleagues had already left, but for some reason, his work couldn't be done as fast as he normally did. Maybe luck wasn't on his side today.

_Suddenly stacking up all that paperwork on my desk like nothing, and all that form-filling that Jane could’ve done in an easy minute, and all those agents coming in and out checking all the documents for what?_

Confusion and frustration slowly built up as he packed up for the day, when his inbox popped a few notifications. In fact, there were only 4.

The first one was an electronic receipt, telling him about a new house ready for accommodation and it required verification in order to receive the keys to the front door.

The second one, all of the hospital bills and the college fees for his daughter’s education had been payed by a person said to be a representative for him.

The third one, from the higher-ups, informing him of a new promotion, and that meant better salary. He smiled to himself, finally something peaceful enough for a day.

But last one struck him the worst, which is a letter describing his new position at work:

" _Dear Mr. Aaron,_

_I am certain that you have received the 3 messages in your inbox about a few of your..._ _personal issues that you have coped with for the past few months. And I am happy to say that all of them are cleared for you to tackle something else harder, of which I'm about to describe as follows:_

_The E.S. has been a major threat to mankind with its destructive nature as well as panic from the majority and a chance for secret organizations plotting the take over the world. Followed by the request from the T.L. of the research team, Dr.[DATA REMOVED], we have decided to form a secret council of power, with the affiliation of the Special Medical Association (SMA), named C-Council._ (A/n: If you said I suck at names, then you're half right.)

_This council consists of 11 members, and you should find an attached document below listing possible scenarios that are likely to happen, in which you are responsible in executing necessary commands. It must, at all times, have at least 2 board certified medical professionals, along with 2 non-medical associated members to ensure the fairness in judgement calls. The possible scenarios of power abuse is, of course, not out of consideration, but if the moment comes, you have the Head Chairman of the SMA and his cabinet of docs to aid you through the process._

_Which leads us to your new position: the Specialized Manager of the C-Council. Your job is to make sure the well being of council members, removal of any unsuitable individuals in the system, and so on. The work is sure to put a strain on you, but you're the best pick we have, and besides, your post would have the equivalence of the Director, meaning that since you work for the betterment of the council, you now have way more power than your previous boss, though I must personally warn you about how power abuse is not an option. Constant monitoring will be in place from your first day at the new post of yours, so rest assured that everything's okay._

_In short, your work is something that will go down in the archives of this foundations historical records, with you being the first of the many more managers in the future, battling against E.S. for the humanity itself. Once again, I congratulate you on your new position._

_Director of the [REDACTED] signed,_

_Dr.[REDACTED]_

_P.S: I'm sorry if this is a bit messy, it's just that work's piling up on my desk as well and my assistant couldn't spare any time checking my writing at all, since I wrote this in a hurry. Once again, congrats."_

The only thought that crossed his mind at the time: luck was definitely _**not**_ on his side today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm cutting this short cuz deadlines' drowning me :((((((  
> Imsadandemoplsdontouchmeh


End file.
